Many homeless deal with violence, report shows

One in four homeless people in Broward County have reported experiencing violence, according to a report that will be released today by a local advocacy group.

Almost 4,000 homeless adults and children completed a survey conducted in January by The Coalition to End Homelessness. The group asked about violence for the first time in its biennial survey to gather data that show what members already knew -- that violence against the homeless is all too common.

After Fort Lauderdale teenagers were accused of beating two homeless men and killing a third in January 2006, "we told [people] it happens all the time," said Laura Hansen, coalition CEO. "This was no news for us, and there seemed to be some type of disbelief. And we didn't have the data to show it."

The survey was not scientific, and it does raise some questions. Participants weren't asked to define violence, and more than 1,600 people wouldn't answer the question. But of the more than 2,200 who did answer, more than 25 percent said they had been victims of violence while homeless. .Hansen said the results are valuable.

"That's the nature of dealing with homeless people -- they are difficult to count," she said. "Studies such as the one we did are widely used by a lot of decision makers. And our study is very credible for a homeless study. It's a massive undertaking."

The survey is conducted every two years by scores of volunteers who look for the homeless on the street, in shelters and in soup kitchens to ask them out about their mental status, years of homelessness, among other questions.

Advocates warn the numbers of homeless may be much higher than 4,000, since many chronically homeless people set up camps in abandoned buildings or in the woods and are difficult to find.

The survey also showed that among Broward's homeless population, 78 percent are men, and men are more likely to become repeatedly homeless. About 54 percent of the homeless are white, although 63 percent of homeless families with two or more people are black, according to the survey. Almost 30 percent of Broward's homeless population is in their 40s.

Hansen said officials need to find a way to deal with the violence problem.

"What's helpful is that now we have the data to substantiate what we've always known: That these few sensational cases that gather all this national attention are the tip of the iceberg of a huge social problem."

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2008.